Category: Headlines

The good news for Seattle-area homebuyers is the number of homes newly listed for sale increased to nearly 6,300, a 50 percent increase over February. That should mean more options for buyers, but it doesn’t because pending sales shot up even more to 6,350. The result is continued tight inventory with the median sales price…

Seattle is second only to Brooklyn in millennial population, and a survey by local nonprofit Forterra points at some reasons why—and why not everyone thinks they can stick around. Millennials love dense, green, progressive Seattle, but worry about getting priced out– Curbed Home prices hit a 31-month high in January, Case-Shiller says – Market Watch…

The Seattle metropolitan area has gained about 1,100 people per week since 2010, according to newly-released census data and some number crunching by American City Business Journals. The July 2016 population estimate for the area, which includes Tacoma and Bellevue, is 3,798,902. The Washington State Office of Financial Management estimated Seattle proper’s population as 686,800…

A decade ago, the smartphone didn’t exist. Now, the majority of real estate shopping takes place on mobile devices. “We couldn’t have possibly imagined that,” says co-founder and executive chairman of Zillow Rich Barton at Inman Connect New York. “Now, looking forward to the next 10 years … I see our role at Zillow Group as…

2017 Real Estate Predictions – Real Trends 2017 will be the year of the condo in Bellevue and Seattle – PSBJ This was the year Amazon’s Seattle-area real estate footprint became truly enormous – PSBJ $19.2M deal suggests Amazon may build a fifth tower in downtown Seattle – PSBJ Map Of The Week: Grandfathered Housing…

Considering how long we’ve been talking about how out of control Seattle housing market growth has been over the last couple years, it’s a bit amazing we’re only just getting to the point where it’s the hottest housing market in the country. Seattle narrowly topped Portland, where home values gained 10.9 percent. For the prior…

The headline for NWMLS’s October report on housing prices reads “Home Sales and Prices Still Climbing Around Puget Sound,” which might as well just be the boilerplate headline they use every month. Saying that the most recent month was a good one for sellers and rough one for buyers seems pointless these days. You just…

The blazing housing market is pushing a growing number of “normal” houses in middle-class neighborhoods into a price category once reserved for luxury estates: The Seattle area this year has already smashed its previous full-year record for sales of million-dollar homes. Not just mansions anymore: Record number of Seattle-area homes fetching $1 million – Seattle…

You might think that the internet and today’s seller’s market is coaxing an unusually large share of homeowners into selling without an agent. And for those homesellers who list with agents, you might guess that they’re favoring the limited-service variety — commonly referred to as “discount agents” — more than ever. But you’d be dead wrong on both counts… (read more) FSBO…

Seattle is — for the moment, at least — the crane capital of America. As the city transforms with taller and taller buildings, Seattle this summer had 58 construction cranes reshaping the skyline — more than any other city in the country, according to recent data. Seattle skyline is tops in construction cranes — more…

Think there are too many Amazonians in Seattle? Well, brace yourself. Washington’s Employment Security Department says that between May and August, Amazon.com posted 11,042 job openings online in King County, double the number from the same period last year. The numbers mean that the tech and retail giant’s Pantagruelian appetite for workers dwarfs that of…

Seattle and Vancouver are like fraternal twins separated at birth. Both are bustling Pacific Northwest coastal cities with eco-conscious populations that have accepted the bargain of dispiriting weather for much of the year in exchange for nearby ski slopes and kayaking and glorious summers. Yet 140 miles of traffic-choked roads and an international border divide…

Even with another hint of a late-summer cooling in home prices, the Seattle area real-estate market has still gotten so intense there often aren’t enough inspectors and appraisers to keep up with the demand. That’s creating extra risk and cost for homebuyers desperate to get an edge in bidding wars. At best, the staffing shortage…

As the Seattle area zips through a historic building boom, one of the most visible changes is a surge in bulldozing old, small houses to make way for big, new homes that typically carry much higher price tags. Seattle on average now sees one home teardown every day. More houses have been demolished and replaced…

As crazy as Seattle’s real estate market has been, Vancouver’s is arguably more extreme – and may be imploding in an extreme fashion. What else would you call a 20 percent drop in one month? How Vancouver’s market implosion affects Seattle – Curbed Shoreline’s 145th Street Station Is Moving North – The Urbanist Rent-to-Own Homes:…

The Puget Sound region’s housing market is still booming and last month recorded its best-ever July, according to a new report that the Northwest Multiple Listing Service issued Thursday. A severe inventory shortage has resulted in an unbalanced market, but now more houses and condos are being put up for sale. It was the best…

Talk to just about anyone about local real-estate prices and there’s a good chance you’ll hear this: Seattle is becoming the next San Francisco. Sure, housing prices and rents are skyrocketing here, but are we really doomed to a fate where million-dollar homes and $5,000-a-month rents will soon be the norm? Don’t count on it….

Home prices have hit record highs in some major U.S. metropolitan areas, and house-flippers are behaving like it’s 2005: It’s no wonder people are chattering about another housing bubble. But residential real estate isn’t in a speculative bubble, industry observers contend. Instead, a low inventory of available homes is driving prices higher—prices, however, will eventually recede…

In a ruling this month, the Washington Supreme Court found that action illegal — a decision that clears the way for a federal class-action case that Jordan brought on behalf of at least 3,600 borrowers in the state, and one that could have broad ramifications on how some lenders respond when homeowners miss payments. “This…

As home prices and rents continue to soar faster in the Seattle area than just about anywhere else in the nation, the city and its neighbors have set new highs for housing costs. Seattle’s median single-family home cost $666,500 in June, easily beating out the record set in February, according to figures released Wednesday by…

Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) released draft recommendations on the University District rezone and urban design proposal in late May. The draft recommendations consist of a large breadth of changes to development regulations in the neighborhood and substantially increase development capacity. Most of the proposed changes would affect the core of the…